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Your search keyword '"Jackson, M. P. A."' showing total 14 results
Start Over Author "Jackson, M. P. A." Topic astrophysics - high energy astrophysical phenomena
14 results on '"Jackson, M. P. A."'

1. Accretion geometry of the black-hole binary Cygnus X-1 from X-ray polarimetry

Author

Chauvin, M., Florén, H. -G., Friis, M., Jackson, M., Kamae, T., Kataoka, J., Kawano, T., Kiss, M., Mikhalev, V., Mizuno, T., Ohashi, N., Stana, T., Tajima, H., Takahashi, H., Uchida, N., and Pearce, M.

Subjects
Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract

Black-hole binary (BHB) systems comprise a stellar-mass black hole and a closely orbiting companion star. Matter is transferred from the companion to the black hole, forming an accretion disk, corona and jet structures. The resulting release of gravitational energy leads to emission of X-rays. The radiation is affected by special/general relativistic effects, and can serve as a probe of the properties of the black hole and surrounding environment, if the accretion geometry is properly identified. Two competing models describe the disk-corona geometry for the hard spectral state of BHBs, based on spectral and timing measurements. Measuring the polarization of hard X-rays reflected from the disk allows the geometry to be determined. The extent of the corona differs between the two models, affecting the strength of relativistic effects (e.g., enhancement of polarization fraction and rotation of polarization angle). Here, we report observational results on linear polarization of hard X-ray (19-181 keV) emission from a BHB, Cygnus X-1, in the hard state. The low polarization fraction, <8.6% (upper limit at 90% confidence level), and the alignment of the polarization angle with the jet axis show that the dominant emission is not influenced by strong gravity. When considered together with existing spectral and timing data, our result reveals that the accretion corona is either an extended structure, or is located far from the black hole in the hard state of Cygnus X-1., Comment: 44 pages, 15 figures, 1 table

Published
2018
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2. The PoGO+ view on Crab off-pulse hard X-ray polarisation

Author

Chauvin, M., Florén, H. -G., Friis, M., Jackson, M., Kamae, T., Kataoka, J., Kawano, T., Kiss, M., Mikhalev, V., Mizuno, T., Tajima, H., Takahashi, H., Uchida, N., and Pearce, M.

Subjects
Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract

The linear polarisation fraction and angle of the hard X-ray emission from the Crab provide unique insight into high energy radiation mechanisms, complementing the usual imaging, timing and spectroscopic approaches. Results have recently been presented by two missions operating in partially overlapping energy bands, PoGO+ (18-160 keV) and AstroSat CZTI (100-380 keV). We previously reported PoGO+ results on the polarisation parameters integrated across the light-curve and for the entire nebula-dominated off-pulse region. We now introduce finer phase binning, in light of the AstroSat CZTI claim that the polarisation fraction varies across the off-pulse region. Since both missions are operating in a regime where errors on the reconstructed polarisation parameters are non-Gaussian, we adopt a Bayesian approach to compare results from each mission. We find no statistically significant variation in off-pulse polarisation parameters, neither when considering the mission data separately nor when they are combined. This supports expectations from standard high-energy emission models., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, 5 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRAS Letters

Published
2018
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3. Shedding new light on the Crab with polarized X-rays

Author

Chauvin, M., Florén, H. -G., Friis, M., Jackson, M., Kamae, T., Kataoka, J., Kawano, T., Kiss, M., Mikhalev, V., Mizuno, T., Ohashi, N., Stana, T., Tajima, H., Takahashi, H., Uchida, N., and Pearce, M.

Subjects
Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Abstract

Strong magnetic fields, synchrotron emission, and Compton scattering are omnipresent in compact celestial X-ray sources. Emissions in the X-ray energy band are consequently expected to be linearly polarized. X-ray polarimetry provides a unique diagnostic to study the location and fundamental mechanisms behind emission processes. The polarization of emissions from a bright celestial X-ray source, the Crab, is reported here for the first time in the hard X-ray band (~20-160 keV). The Crab is a complex system consisting of a central pulsar, a diffuse pulsar wind nebula, as well as structures in the inner nebula including a jet and torus. Measurements are made by a purpose-built and calibrated polarimeter, PoGO+. The polarization vector is found to be aligned with the spin axis of the pulsar for a polarization fraction, PF = (20.9 $\pm$ 5.0)%. This is higher than that of the optical diffuse nebula, implying a more compact emission site, though not as compact as, e.g., the synchrotron knot. Contrary to measurements at higher energies, no significant temporal evolution of phase-integrated polarisation parameters is observed. The polarization parameters for the pulsar itself are measured for the first time in the X-ray energy band and are consistent with observations at optical wavelengths., Comment: Accepted for publication in Scientific Reports, www.nature.com/srep

Published
2017

4. Observation of polarised hard X-ray emission from the Crab by the PoGOLite Pathfinder

Author

Chauvin, M., Florén, H. -G., Jackson, M., Kamae, T., Kawano, T., Kiss, M., Kole, M., Mikhalev, V., Moretti, E., Olofsson, G., Rydström, S., Takahashi, H., Iyudin, A., Arimoto, M., Fukazawa, Y., Kataoka, J., Kawai, N., Mizuno, T., Ryde, F., Tajima, H., Takahashi, T., and Pearce, M.

Subjects
Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract

We have measured the linear polarisation of hard X-ray emission from the Crab in a previously unexplored energy interval, 20-120 keV. The introduction of two new observational parameters, the polarisation fraction and angle stands to disentangle geometrical and physical effects, thereby providing information on the pulsar wind geometry and magnetic field environment. Measurements are conducted using the PoGOLite Pathfinder - a balloon-borne polarimeter. Polarisation is determined by measuring the azimuthal Compton scattering angle of incident X-rays in an array of plastic scintillators housed in an anticoincidence well. The polarimetric response has been characterised prior to flight using both polarised and unpolarised calibration sources. We address possible systematic effects through observations of a background field. The measured polarisation fraction for the integrated Crab light-curve is ($18.4^{+9.8}_{-10.6}$)%, corresponding to an upper limit (99% credibility) of 42.4%, for a polarisation angle of ($149.2\pm16.0)^\circ$., Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS Letters (In this revision the polarisation angle is correctly stated as 149.2$\pm$16.0 degrees and not 142.2$\pm$16.0 degrees (typo corrected in abstract and on page 4)

Published
2015
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5. Gamma-ray flaring activity from the gravitationally lensed blazar PKS 1830-211 observed by Fermi LAT

Author

The Fermi LAT Collaboration, Abdo, A. A., Ackermann, M., Ajello, M., Allafort, A., Amin, M. A., Baldini, L., Barbiellini, G., Bastieri, D., Bechtol, K., Bellazzini, R., Blandford, R. D., Bonamente, E., Borgland, A. W., Bregeon, J., Brigida, M., Buehler, R., Bulmash, D., Buson, S., Caliandro, G. A., Cameron, R. A., Caraveo, P. A., Cavazzuti, E., Cecchi, C., Charles, E., Cheung, C. C., Chiang, J., Chiaro, G., Ciprini, S., Claus, R., Cohen-Tanugi, J., Conrad, J., Corbet, R. H. D., Cutini, S., D'Ammando, F., de Angelis, A., de Palma, F., Dermer, C. D., Drell, P. S., Drlica-Wagner, A., Favuzzi, C., Finke, J., Focke, W. B., Fukazawa, Y., Fusco, P., Gargano, F., Gasparrini, D., Gehrels, N., Giglietto, N., Giordano, F., Giroletti, M., Glanzman, T., Grenier, I. A., Grove, J. E., Guiriec, S., Hadasch, D., Hayashida, M., Hays, E., Hughes, R. E., Inoue, Y., Jackson, M. S., Jogler, T., Jòhannesson, G., Johnson, A. S., Kamae, T., Knödlseder, J., Kuss, M., Lande, J., Larsson, S., Latronico, L., Longo, F., Loparco, F., Lott, B., Lovellette, M. N., Lubrano, P., Madejski, G. M., Mazziotta, M. N., Mehault, J., Michelson, P. F., Mizuno, T., Monzani, M. E., Morselli, A., Moskalenko, I. V., Murgia, S., Nemmen, R., Nuss, E., Ohno, M., Ohsugi, T., Paneque, D., Perkins, J. S., Pesce-Rollins, M., Piron, F., Pivato, G., Porter, T. A., Rainò, S., Rando, R., Razzano, M., Reimer, A., Reimer, O., Reyes, L. C., Ritz, S., Romoli, C., Roth, M., Parkinson, P. M. Saz, Sgrò, C., Siskind, E. J., Spandre, G., Spinelli, P., Takahashi, H., Takeuchi, Y., Tanaka, T., Thayer, J. G., Thayer, J. B., Thompson, D. J., Tibaldo, L., Tinivella, M., Torres, D. F., Tosti, G., Troja, E., Tronconi, V., Usher, T. L., Vandenbroucke, J., Vasileiou, V., Vianello, G., Vitale, V., Waite, A. P., Werner, M., Winer, B. L., and Wood, K. S.

Subjects
Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract

The Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope routinely detects the highly dust-absorbed, reddened, and MeV-peaked flat spectrum radio quasar PKS 1830-211 (z=2.507). Its apparent isotropic gamma-ray luminosity (E>100 MeV) averaged over $\sim$ 3 years of observations and peaking on 2010 October 14/15 at 2.9 X 10^{50} erg s^{-1}, makes it among the brightest high-redshift Fermi blazars. No published model with a single lens can account for all of the observed characteristics of this complex system. Based on radio observations, one expects time delayed variability to follow about 25 days after a primary flare, with flux about a factor 1.5 less. Two large gamma-ray flares of PKS 1830-211 have been detected by the LAT in the considered period and no substantial evidence for such a delayed activity was found. This allows us to place a lower limit of about 6 on the gamma rays flux ratio between the two lensed images. Swift XRT observations from a dedicated Target of Opportunity program indicate a hard spectrum and with no significant correlation of X-ray flux with the gamma-ray variability. The spectral energy distribution can be modeled with inverse Compton scattering of thermal photons from the dusty torus. The implications of the LAT data in terms of variability, the lack of evident delayed flare events, and different radio and gamma-ray flux ratios are discussed. Microlensing effects, absorption, size and location of the emitting regions, the complex mass distribution of the system, an energy-dependent inner structure of the source, and flux suppression by the lens galaxy for one image path may be considered as hypotheses for understanding our results., Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables. Accepted by the The Astrophysical Journal. Corresponding authors: S. Ciprini (ASI ASDC & INAF OAR, Rome, Italy), S. Buson (INAF Padova & Univ. of Padova, Padova, Italy), J. Finke (NRL, Washington, DC, USA), F. D'Ammando (INAF IRA, Bologna, Italy)

Published
2014
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6. XMM-Newton and Canadian Galactic Plane Survey Observations of the Supernova Remnant G107.5-1.5

Author

Jackson, M. S., Safi-Harb, S., and Kothes, R.

Subjects
Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract

We present an XMM-Newton observation of the highly polarized low-surface brightness supernova remnant G107.5-1.5, discovered with the Canadian Galactic Plane Survey (CGPS). We do not detect diffuse X-ray emission from the SNR and set an upper limit on the surface brightness of ~2 x 10^30 erg arcmin^-2 s^-1, at an assumed distance of 1.1 kpc. We found eight bright point sources in the field, including the ROSAT source 1RXS J225203.8+574249 near the centre of the radio shell. Spectroscopic analysis of some of the embedded point sources, including the ROSAT source, has been performed, and all eight sources are most likely ruled out as the associated neutron star, primarily due to counterpart bright stars in optical and infrared bands. Timing analysis of the bright point sources yielded no significant evidence for pulsations, but, due to the timing resolution, only a small part of the frequency space could be searched. An additional ten fainter point sources were identified in the vicinity of the SNR. Further X-ray observation of these and the region in the vicinity of the radio shell may be warranted., Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures

Published
2014
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7. Inferred cosmic-ray spectrum from ${\it Fermi}$-LAT $\gamma$-ray observations of the Earth's limb

Author

Collaboration, Fermi-LAT, Ackermann, M., Ajello, M., Albert, A., Allafort, A., Baldini, L., Barbiellini, G., Bastieri, D., Bechtol, K., Bellazzini, R., Blandford, R. D., Bloom, E. D., Bonamente, E., Bottacini, E., Bouvier, A., Brandt, T. J., Brigida, M., Bruel, P., Buehler, R., Buson, S., Caliandro, G. A., Cameron, R. A., Caraveo, P. A., Cecchi, C., Charles, E., Chaves, R. C. G., Chekhtman, A., Chiang, J., Chiaro, G., Ciprini, S., Claus, R., Cohen-Tanugi, J., Conrad, J., Cutini, S., Dalton, M., D'Ammando, F., de Angelis, A., de Palma, F., Dermer, C. D., Digel, S. W., Di Venere, L., Silva, E. do Couto e, Drell, P. S., Drlica-Wagner, A., Favuzzi, C., Fegan, S. J., Ferrara, E. C., Focke, W. B., Franckowiak, A., Fukazawa, Y., Funk, S., Fusco, P., Gargano, F., Gasparrini, D., Germani, S., Giglietto, N., Giordano, F., Giroletti, M., Glanzman, T., Godfrey, G., Gomez-Vargas, G. A., Grenier, I. A., Grove, J. E., Guiriec, S., Gustafsson, M., Hadasch, D., Hanabata, Y., Harding, A. K., Hayashida, M., Hayashi, K., Hewitt, J. W., Horan, D., Hou, X., Hughes, R. E., Inoue, Y., Jackson, M. S., Jogler, T., Jóhannesson, G., Johnson, A. S., Kamae, T., Kawano, T., Knödlseder, J., Kuss, M., Lande, J., Larsson, S., Latronico, L., Longo, F., Loparco, F., Lovellette, M. N., Lubrano, P., Mayer, M., Mazziotta, M. N., McEnery, J. E., Mehault, J., Michelson, P. F., Mitthumsiri, W., Mizuno, T., Moiseev, A. A., Monte, C., Monzani, M. E., Morselli, A., Moskalenko, I. V., Murgia, S., Nemmen, R., Nuss, E., Ohsugi, T., Okumura, A., Orienti, M., Orlando, E., Ormes, J. F., Paneque, D., Panetta, J. H., Perkins, J. S., Pesce-Rollins, M., Piron, F., Pivato, G., Porter, T. A., Rainò, S., Rando, R., Razzano, M., Razzaque, S., Reimer, A., Reimer, O., Ritz, S., Roth, M., Schaal, M., Schulz, A., Sgrò, C., Siskind, E. J., Spandre, G., Spinelli, P., Strong, A. W., Takahashi, H., Takeuchi, Y., Thayer, J. G., Thayer, J. B., Thompson, D. J., Tibaldo, L., Tinivella, M., Torres, D. F., Tosti, G., Troja, E., Tronconi, V., Usher, T. L., Vandenbroucke, J., Vasileiou, V., Vianello, G., Vitale, V., Werner, M., Winer, B. L., Wood, K. S., Wood, M., and Yang, Z.

Subjects
Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract

Recent accurate measurements of cosmic-ray (CR) species by ATIC-2, CREAM, and PAMELA reveal an unexpected hardening in the proton and He spectra above a few hundred GeV, a gradual softening of the spectra just below a few hundred GeV, and a harder spectrum of He compared to that of protons. These newly-discovered features may offer a clue to the origin of high-energy CRs. We use the ${\it Fermi}$ Large Area Telescope observations of the $\gamma$-ray emission from the Earth's limb for an indirect measurement of the local spectrum of CR protons in the energy range $\sim 90~$GeV-$6~$TeV (derived from a photon energy range $15~$GeV-$1~$TeV). Our analysis shows that single power law and broken power law spectra fit the data equally well and yield a proton spectrum with index $2.68 \pm 0.04$ and $2.61 \pm 0.08$ above $\sim 200~$GeV, respectively., Comment: Accepted by PRL for publication; Contact authors: Stefan Funk, Warit Mitthumsiri, Igor Moskalenko; 2 figures

Published
2014

8. Constraints on the Galactic Population of TEV Pulsar Wind Nebulae Using Fermi Large Area Telescope Observations

Author

Acero, F., Ackermann, M., Ajello, M., Allafort, A., Baldini, L., Ballet, J., Barbiellini, G., Bastieri, D., Bechtol, K., Bellazzini, R., Blandford, R. D., Bloom, E. D., Bonamente, E., Bottacini, E., Brandt, T. J., Bregeon, J., Brigida, M., Bruel, P., Buehler, R., Buson, S., Caliandro, G. A., Cameron, R. A., Caraveo, P. A., Cecchi, C., Charles, E., Chaves, R. C. G., Chekhtman, A., Chiang, J., Chiaro, G., Ciprini, S., Claus, R., Cohen-Tanugi, J., Conrad, J., Cutini, S., Dalton, M., D'Ammando, F., de Palma, F., Dermer, C. D., Di Venere, L., Silva, E. do Couto e, Drell, P. S., Drlica-Wagner, A., Falletti, L., Favuzzi, C., Fegan, S. J., Ferrara, E. C., Focke, W. B., Franckowiak, A., Fukazawa, Y., Funk, S., Fusco, P., Gargano, F., Gasparrini, D., Giglietto, N., Giordano, F., Giroletti, M., Glanzman, T., Godfrey, G., Grégoire, T., Grenier, I. A., Grondin, M. -H., Grove, J. E., Guiriec, S., Hadasch, D., Hanabata, Y., Harding, A. K., Hayashida, M., Hayashi, K., Hays, E., Hewitt, J., Hill, A. B., Horan, D., Hou, X., Hughes, R. E., Inoue, Y., Jackson, M. S., Jogler, T., Jóhannesson, G., Johnson, A. S., Kamae, T., Kawano, T., Kerr, M., Knödlseder, J., Kuss, M., Lande, J., Larsson, S., Latronico, L., Lemoine-Goumard, M., Longo, F., Loparco, F., Lovellette, M. N., Lubrano, P., Marelli, M., Massaro, F., Mayer, M., Mazziotta, M. N., McEnery, J. E., Mehault, J., Michelson, P. F., Mitthumsiri, W., Mizuno, T., Monte, C., Monzani, M. E., Morselli, A., Moskalenko, I. V., Murgia, S., Nakamori, T., Nemmen, R., Nuss, E., Ohsugi, T., Okumura, A., Orienti, M., Orlando, E., Ormes, J. F., Paneque, D., Panetta, J. H., Perkins, J. S., Pesce-Rollins, M., Piron, F., Pivato, G., Porter, T. A., Rainò, S., Rando, R., Razzano, M., Reimer, A., Reimer, O., Reposeur, T., Ritz, S., Roth, M., Rousseau, R., Parkinson, P. M. Saz, Schulz, A., Sgrò, C., Siskind, E. J., Smith, D. A., Spandre, G., Spinelli, P., Suson, D. J., Takahashi, H., Takeuchi, Y., Thayer, J. G., Thayer, J. B., Thompson, D. J., Tibaldo, L., Tibolla, O., Tinivella, M., Torres, D. F., Tosti, G., Troja, E., Uchiyama, Y., Vandenbroucke, J., Vasileiou, V., Vianello, G., Vitale, V., Werner, M., Winer, B. L., Wood, K. S., and Yang, Z.

Subjects
Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract

Pulsar wind nebulae (PWNe) have been established as the most populous class of TeV gamma-ray emitters. Since launch, the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT)identified five high-energy (100MeV

Published
2013
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9. Detection of the Characteristic Pion-Decay Signature in Supernova Remnants

Author

collaboration, The Fermi-LAT, Ackermann, M., Ajello, M., Allafort, A., Baldini, L., Ballet, J., Barbiellini, G., Baring, M. G., Bastieri, D., Bechtol, K., Bellazzini, R., Blandford, R. D., Bloom, E. D., Bonamente, E., Borgland, A. W., Bottacini, E., Brandt, T. J., Bregeon, J., Brigida, M., Bruel, P., Buehler, R., Busetto, G., Buson, S., Caliandro, G. A., Cameron, R. A., Caraveo, P. A., Casandjian, J. M., Cecchi, C., Çelik, Ö., Charles, E., Chaty, S., Chaves, R. C. G., Chekhtman, A., Cheung, C. C., Chiang, J., Chiaro, G., Cillis, A. N., Ciprini, S., Claus, R., Cohen-Tanugi, J., Cominsky, L. R., Conrad, J., Corbel, S., Cutini, S., D'Ammando, F., de Angelis, A., de Palma, F., Dermer, C. D., Silva, E. do Couto e, Drell, P. S., Drlica-Wagner, A., Falletti, L., Favuzzi, C., Ferrara, E. C., Franckowiak, A., Fukazawa, Y., Funk, S., Fusco, P., Gargano, F., Germani, S., Giglietto, N., Giommi, P., Giordano, F., Giroletti, M., Glanzman, T., Godfrey, G., Grenier, I. A., Grondin, M. -H., Grove, J. E., Guiriec, S., Hadasch, D., Hanabata, Y., Harding, A. K., Hayashida, M., Hayashi, K., Hays, E., Hewitt, J., Hill, A. B., Hughes, R. E., Jackson, M. S., Jogler, T., Jóhannesson, G., Johnson, A. S., Kamae, T., Kataoka, J., Katsuta, J., Knödlseder, J., Kuss, M., Lande, J., Larsson, S., Latronico, L., Lemoine-Goumard, M., Longo, F., Loparco, F., Lovellette, M. N., Lubrano, P., Madejski, G. M., Massaro, F., Mayer, M., Mazziotta, M. N., McEnery, J. E., Mehault, J., Michelson, P. F., Mignani, R. P., Mitthumsiri, W., Mizuno, T., Moiseev, A. A., Monzani, M. E., Morselli, A., Moskalenko, I. V., Murgia, S., Nakamori, T., Nemmen, R., Nuss, E., Ohno, M., Ohsugi, T., Omodei, N., Orienti, M., Orlando, E., Ormes, J. F., Paneque, D., Perkins, J. S., Pesce-Rollins, M., Piron, F., Pivato, G., Rainò, S., Rando, R., Razzano, M., Razzaque, S., Reimer, A., Reimer, O., Ritz, S., Romoli, C., Sánchez-Conde, M., Schulz, A., Sgrò, C., Simeon, P. E., Siskind, E. J., Smith, D. A., Spandre, G., Spinelli, P., Stecker, F. W., Strong, A. W., Suson, D. J., Tajima, H., Takahashi, H., Takahashi, T., Tanaka, T., Thayer, J. G., Thayer, J. B., Thompson, D. J., Thorsett, S. E., Tibaldo, L., Tibolla, O., Tinivella, M., Troja, E., Uchiyama, Y., Usher, T. L., Vandenbroucke, J., Vasileiou, V., Vianello, G., Vitale, V., Waite, A. P., Werner, M., Winer, B. L., Wood, K. S., Wood, M., Yamazaki, R., Yang, Z., and Zimmer, S.

Subjects
Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Astrophysics - Galaxy Astrophysics
Abstract

Cosmic rays are particles (mostly protons) accelerated to relativistic speeds. Despite wide agreement that supernova remnants (SNRs) are the sources of galactic cosmic rays, unequivocal evidence for the acceleration of protons in these objects is still lacking. When accelerated protons encounter interstellar material, they produce neutral pions, which in turn decay into gamma rays. This offers a compelling way to detect the acceleration sites of protons. The identification of pion-decay gamma rays has been difficult because high-energy electrons also produce gamma rays via bremsstrahlung and inverse Compton scattering. We detected the characteristic pion-decay feature in the gamma-ray spectra of two SNRs, IC 443 and W44, with the Fermi Large Area Telescope. This detection provides direct evidence that cosmic-ray protons are accelerated in SNRs., Comment: To appear in Science Magazine on February 15th; contact authors: Stefan Funk, Takaaki Tanaka, Yasunobu Uchiyama

Published
2013
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10. Binary Millisecond Pulsar Discovery via Gamma-Ray Pulsations

Author

Pletsch, H. J., Guillemot, L., Fehrmann, H., Allen, B., Kramer, M., Aulbert, C., Ackermann, M., Ajello, M., de Angelis, A., Atwood, W. B., Baldini, L., Ballet, J., Barbiellini, G., Bastieri, D., Bechtol, K., Bellazzini, R., Borgland, A. W., Bottacini, E., Brandt, T. J., Bregeon, J., Brigida, M., Bruel, P., Buehler, R., Buson, S., Caliandro, G. A., Cameron, R. A., Caraveo, P. A., Casandjian, J. M., Cecchi, C., Celik, Ö., Charles, E., Chaves, R. C. G., Cheung, C. C., Chiang, J., Ciprini, S., Claus, R., Cohen-Tanugi, J., Conrad, J., Cutini, S., D'Ammando, F., Dermer, C. D., Digel, S. W., Drell, P. S., Drlica-Wagner, A., Dubois, R., Dumora, D., Favuzzi, C., Ferrara, E. C., Franckowiak, A., Fukazawa, Y., Fusco, P., Gargano, F., Gehrels, N., Germani, S., Giglietto, N., Giordano, F., Giroletti, M., Godfrey, G., Grenier, I. A., Grondin, M. -H., Grove, J. E., Guiriec, S., Hadasch, D., Hanabata, Y., Harding, A. K., Hartog, P. R. den, Hayashida, M., Hays, E., Hill, A. B., Hou, X., Hughes, R. E., Johannesson, G., Jackson, M. S., Jogler, T., Johnson, A. S., Johnson, W. N., Kataoka, J., Kerr, M., Knödlseder, J., Kuss, M., Lande, J., Larsson, S., Latronico, L., Lemoine-Goumard, M., Longo, F., Loparco, F., Lovellette, M. N., Lubrano, P., Massaro, F., Mayer, M., Mazziotta, M. N., McEnery, J. E., Mehault, J., Michelson, P. F., Mitthumsiri, W., Mizuno, T., Monzani, M. E., Morselli, A., Moskalenko, I. V., Murgia, S., Nakamori, T., Nemmen, R., Nuss, E., Ohno, M., Ohsugi, T., Omodei, N., Orienti, M., Orlando, E., de Palma, F., Paneque, D., Perkins, J. S., Piron, F., Pivato, G., Porter, T. A., Raino, S., Rando, R., Ray, P. S., Razzano, M., Reimer, A., Reimer, O., Reposeur, T., Ritz, S., Romani, R. W., Romoli, C., Sanchez, D. A., Parkinson, P. M. Saz, Schulz, A., Sgro, C., Silva, E. do Couto e, Siskind, E. J., Smith, D. A., Spandre, G., Spinelli, P., Suson, D. J., Takahashi, H., Tanaka, T., Thayer, J. B., Thayer, J. G., Thompson, D. J., Tibaldo, L., Tinivella, M., Troja, E., Usher, T. L., Vandenbroucke, J., Vasileiou, V., Vianello, G., Vitale, V., Waite, A. P., Winer, B. L., Wood, K. S., Wood, M., Yang, Z., and Zimmer, S.

Subjects
Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Astrophysics - Galaxy Astrophysics, General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
Abstract

Millisecond pulsars, old neutron stars spun-up by accreting matter from a companion star, can reach high rotation rates of hundreds of revolutions per second. Until now, all such "recycled" rotation-powered pulsars have been detected by their spin-modulated radio emission. In a computing-intensive blind search of gamma-ray data from the Fermi Large Area Telescope (with partial constraints from optical data), we detected a 2.5-millisecond pulsar, PSR J1311-3430. This unambiguously explains a formerly unidentified gamma-ray source that had been a decade-long enigma, confirming previous conjectures. The pulsar is in a circular orbit with an orbital period of only 93 minutes, the shortest of any spin-powered pulsar binary ever found., Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures. Science Express (25 October 2012); in press

Published
2012
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11. Gamma-ray observations of the Orion Molecular Clouds with the Fermi Large Area Telescope

Author

Ackermann, M., Ajello, M., Allafort, A., Antolini, E., Baldini, L., Ballet, J., Barbiellini, G., Bastieri, D., Bechtol, K., Bellazzini, R., Berenji, B., Blandford, R. D., Bloom, E. D., Bonamente, E., Borgland, A. W., Bottacini, E., Brandt, T. J., Bregeon, J., Brigida, M., Bruel, P., Buehler, R., Buson, S., Caliandro, G. A., Cameron, R. A., Caraveo, P. A., Cecchi, C., Chekhtman, A., Chiang, J., Ciprini, S., Claus, R., Cohen-Tanugi, J., Conrad, J., D'Ammando, F., de Angelis, A., de Palma, F., Dermer, C. D., Silva, E. do Couto e, Drell, P. S., Drlica-Wagner, A., Enoto, T., Falletti, L., Favuzzi, C., Fegan, S. J., Ferrara, E. C., Focke, W. B., Fukazawa, Y., Fukui, Y., Fusco, P., Gargano, F., Gasparrini, D., Germani, S., Giglietto, N., Giordano, F., Giroletti, M., Glanzman, T., Godfrey, G., Guiriec, S., Hadasch, D., Hanabata, Y., Harding, A. K., Hayashida, M., Hayashi, K., Horan, D., Hou, X., Hughes, R. E., Jackson, M. S., Jóhannesson, G., Johnson, A. S., Kamae, T., Katagiri, H., Kataoka, J., Kerr, M., Knödlseder, J., Kuss, M., Lande, J., Larsson, S., Lee, S. -H., Longo, F., Loparco, F., Lovellette, M. N., Lubrano, P., Makishima, K., Mazziotta, M. N., Mehault, J., Mitthumsiri, W., Moiseev, A. A., Monte, C., Monzani, M. E., Morselli, A., Moskalenko, I. V., Murgia, S., Nakamori, T., Naumann-Godo, M., Nishino, S., Norris, J. P., Nuss, E., Ohno, M., Ohsugi, T., Okumura, A., Orienti, M., Orlando, E., Ormes, J. F., Ozaki, M., Paneque, D., Panetta, J. H., Parent, D., Pelassa, V., Pesce-Rollins, M., Pierbattista, M., Piron, F., Pivato, G., Porter, T. A., Rainò, S., Razzano, M., Reimer, A., Reimer, O., Roth, M., Sadrozinski, H. F. -W., Sgrò, C., Siskind, E. J., Spandre, G., Spinelli, P., Strong, A. W., Takahashi, H., Takahashi, T., Tanaka, T., Thayer, J. G., Thayer, J. B., Tibolla, O., Tinivella, M., Torres, D. F., Tramacere, A., Troja, E., Uchiyama, Y., Usher, T. L., Vandenbroucke, J., Vasileiou, V., Vianello, G., Vitale, V., Waite, A. P., Wang, P., Winer, B. L., Wood, K. S., Yang, Z., and Zimmer, S.

Subjects
Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Astrophysics - Galaxy Astrophysics
Abstract

We report on the gamma-ray observations of giant molecular clouds Orion A and B with the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on-board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. The gamma-ray emission in the energy band between \sim100 MeV and \sim100 GeV is predicted to trace the gas mass distribution in the clouds through nuclear interactions between the Galactic cosmic rays (CRs) and interstellar gas. The gamma-ray production cross-section for the nuclear interaction is known to \sim10% precision which makes the LAT a powerful tool to measure the gas mass column density distribution of molecular clouds for a known CR intensity. We present here such distributions for Orion A and B, and correlate them with those of the velocity integrated CO intensity (WCO) at a 1{\deg} \times1{\deg} pixel level. The correlation is found to be linear over a WCO range of ~10 fold when divided in 3 regions, suggesting penetration of nuclear CRs to most of the cloud volumes. The Wco-to-mass conversion factor, Xco, is found to be \sim2.3\times10^20 cm-2(K km s-1)-1 for the high-longitude part of Orion A (l > 212{\deg}), \sim1.7 times higher than \sim1.3 \times 10^20 found for the rest of Orion A and B. We interpret the apparent high Xco in the high-longitude region of Orion A in the light of recent works proposing a non-linear relation between H2 and CO densities in the diffuse molecular gas. Wco decreases faster than the H2 column density in the region making the gas "darker" to Wco., Comment: 41 pages, 10 figures (Accepted to ApJ)

Published
2012
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12. Constraints on the Galactic Halo Dark Matter from Fermi-LAT Diffuse Measurements

Author

collaboration, The Fermi-LAT, Ackermann, M., Ajello, M., Atwood, W. B., Baldini, L., Barbiellini, G., Bastieri, D., Bechtol, K., Bellazzini, R., Blandford, R. D., Bloom, E. D., Bonamente, E., Borgland, A. W., Bottacini, E., Brandt, T. J., Bregeon, J., Brigida, M., Bruel, P., Buehler, R., Buson, S., Caliandro, G. A., Cameron, R. A., Caraveo, P. A., Casandjian, J. M., Cecchi, C., Charles, E., Chekhtman, A., Chiang, J., Ciprini, S., Claus, R., Cohen-Tanugi, J., Conrad, J., Cuoco, A., Cutini, S., D'Ammando, F., de Angelis, A., de Palma, F., Dermer, C. D., Silva, E. do Couto e, Drell, P. S., Drlica-Wagner, A., Falletti, L., Favuzzi, C., Fegan, S. J., Focke, W. B., Fukazawa, Y., Funk, S., Fusco, P., Gargano, F., Gasparrini, D., Germani, S., Giglietto, N., Giordano, F., Giroletti, M., Glanzman, T., Godfrey, G., Grenier, I. A., Guiriec, S., Gustafsson, M., Hadasch, D., Hayashida, M., Horan, D., Hughes, R. E., Jackson, M. S., Jogler, T., Jóhannesson, G., Johnson, A. S., Kamae, T., Knödlseder, J., Kuss, M., Lande, J., Latronico, L., Lionetto, A. M., Garde, M. Llena, Longo, F., Loparco, F., Lott, B., Lovellette, M. N., Lubrano, P., Mazziotta, M. N., McEnery, J. E., Mehault, J., Michelson, P. F., Mitthumsiri, W., Mizuno, T., Moiseev, A. A., Monte, C., Monzani, M. E., Morselli, A., Moskalenko, I. V., Murgia, S., Naumann-Godo, M., Norris, J. P., Nuss, E., Ohsugi, T., Orienti, M., Orlando, E., Ormes, J. F., Paneque, D., Panetta, J. H., Pesce-Rollins, M., Pierbattista, M., Piron, F., Pivato, G., Poon, H., Rainò, S., Rando, R., Razzano, M., Razzaque, S., Reimer, A., Reimer, O., Romoli, C., Sbarra, C., Scargle, J. D., Sgrò, C., Siskind, E. J., Spandre, G., Spinelli, P., Stawarz, Łukasz, Strong, A. W., Suson, D. J., Tajima, H., Takahashi, H., Tanaka, T., Thayer, J. G., Thayer, J. B., Tibaldo, L., Tinivella, M., Tosti, G., Troja, E., Usher, T. L., Vandenbroucke, J., Vasileiou, V., Vianello, G., Vitale, V., Waite, A. P., Wallace, E., Wood, K. S., Wood, M., Yang, Z., Zaharijas, G., and Zimmer, S.

Subjects
Astrophysics - Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics, Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract

We have performed an analysis of the diffuse gamma-ray emission with the Fermi Large Area Telescope in the Milky Way Halo region searching for a signal from dark matter annihilation or decay. In the absence of a robust dark matter signal, constraints are presented. We consider both gamma rays produced directly in the dark matter annihilation/decay and produced by inverse Compton scattering of the e+e- produced in the annihilation/decay. Conservative limits are derived requiring that the dark matter signal does not exceed the observed diffuse gamma-ray emission. A second set of more stringent limits is derived based on modeling the foreground astrophysical diffuse emission using the GALPROP code. Uncertainties in the height of the diffusive cosmic-ray halo, the distribution of the cosmic-ray sources in the Galaxy, the index of the injection cosmic-ray electron spectrum and the column density of the interstellar gas are taken into account using a profile likelihood formalism, while the parameters governing the cosmic-ray propagation have been derived from fits to local cosmic-ray data. The resulting limits impact the range of particle masses over which dark matter thermal production in the early Universe is possible, and challenge the interpretation of the PAMELA/Fermi-LAT cosmic ray anomalies as annihilation of dark matter., Comment: 23 pages, 7 figures, 3 tables. Contact authors: Jan Conrad, Alessandro Cuoco, Zhaoyu Yang, Gabrijela Zaharijas; v2: matches version published on ApJ

Published
2012
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13. Fermi LAT Search for Photon Lines from 30 to 200 GeV and Dark Matter Implications

Author

The Fermi LAT Collaboration, Abdo, A. A., Ackermann, M., Ajello, M., Atwood, W. B., Baldini, L., Ballet, J., Barbiellini, G., Bastieri, D., Bechtol, K., Bellazzini, R., Berenji, B., Bloom, E. D., Bonamente, E., Borgland, A. W., Bouvier, A., Bregeon, J., Brez, A., Brigida, M., Bruel, P., Burnett, T. H., Buson, S., Caliandro, G. A., Cameron, R. A., Caraveo, P. A., Carrigan, S., Casandjian, J. M., Cecchi, C., Elik, O. C., Chekhtman, A., Chiang, J., Ciprini, S., Claus, R., Cohen-Tanugi, J., Conrad, J., Dermer, C. D., de Angelis, A., de Palma, F., Digel, S. W., Silva, E. do Couto e, Drell, P. S., Drlica-Wagner, A., Dubois, R., Dumora, D., Edmonds, Y., Essig, R., Farnier, C., Favuzzi, C., Fegan, S. J., Focke, W. B., Fortin, P., Frailis, M., Fukazawa, Y., Funk, S., Fusco, P., Gargano, F., Gasparrini, D., Gehrels, N., Germani, S., Giglietto, N., Giordano, F., Glanzman, T., Godfrey, G., Grenier, I. A., Grove, J. E., Guillemot, L., Guiriec, S., Gustafsson, M., Hadasch, D., Harding, A. K., Horan, D., Hughes, R. E., Jackson, M. S., ohannesson, G. J ., Johnson, A. S., Johnson, R. P., Johnson, W. N., Kamae, T., Katagiri, H., Kataoka, J., Kawai, N., Kerr, M., dlseder, J. Kno ., Kuss, M., Lande, J., Latronico, L., Garde, M. Llena, Longo, F., Loparco, F., Lott, B., Lovellette, M. N., Lubrano, P., Makeev, A., Mazziotta, M. N., McEnery, J. E., Meurer, C., Michelson, P. F., Mitthumsiri, W., Mizuno, T., Moiseev, A. A., Monte, C., Monzani, M. E., Morselli, A., Moskalenko, I. V., Murgia, S., Nolan, P. L., Norris, J. P., Nuss, E., Ohsugi, T., Omodei, N., Orlando, E., Ormes, J. F., Ozaki, M., Paneque, D., Panetta, J. H., Parent, D., Pelassa, V., Pepe, M., Pesce-Rollins, M., Piron, F., Rainó, S., Rando, R., Razzano, M., Reimer, A., Reimer, O., Reposeur, T., Ripken, J., Ritz, S., Rodriguez, A. Y., Roth, M., Sadrozinski, H. F. -W., Sander, A., Parkinson, P. M. Saz, Scargle, J. D., Schalk, T. L., Sellerholm, A., Sgró, C., Siskind, E. J., Smith, D. A., Smith, P. D., Spandre, G., Spinelli, P., Starck, J. -L., Strickman, M. S., Suson, D. J., Tajima, H., Takahashi, H., Tanaka, T., Thayer, J. B., Thayer, J. G., Tibaldo, L., Torres, D. F., Uchiyama, Y., Usher, T. L., Vasileiou, V., Vilchez, N., Vitale, V., Waite, A. P., Wang, P., Winer, B. L., Wood, K. S., Ylinen, T., and Ziegler, M.

Subjects
Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Astrophysics - Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics, High Energy Physics - Experiment, High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Abstract

Dark matter (DM) particle annihilation or decay can produce monochromatic $\gamma$-rays readily distinguishable from astrophysical sources. $\gamma$-ray line limits from 30 GeV to 200 GeV obtained from 11 months of Fermi Large Area Space Telescope data from 20-300 GeV are presented using a selection based on requirements for a $\gamma$-ray line analysis, and integrated over most of the sky. We obtain $\gamma$-ray line flux upper limits in the range $0.6-4.5\times 10^{-9}\mathrm{cm}^{-2}\mathrm{s}^{-1}$, and give corresponding DM annihilation cross-section and decay lifetime limits. Theoretical implications are briefly discussed., Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure. Accepted for publication by The Physical Review Letters

Published
2010
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14. Observations of Milky Way Dwarf Spheroidal galaxies with the Fermi-LAT detector and constraints on Dark Matter models

Author

Collaboration, Fermi-LAT, Abdo, A. A., Ackermann, M., Ajello, M., Atwood, W. B., Baldini, L., Ballet, J., Barbiellini, G., Bastieri, D., Bechtol, K., Bellazzini, R., Berenji, B., Bloom, E. D., Bonamente, E., Borgland, A. W., Bregeon, J., Brez, A., Brigida, M., Bruel, P., Burnett, T. H., Buson, S., Caliandro, G. A., Cameron, R. A., Caraveo, P. A., Casandjian, J. M., Cecchi, C., Chekhtman, A., Cheung, C. C., Chiang, J., Ciprini, S., Claus, R., Cohen-Tanugi, J., Conrad, J., de Angelis, A., de Palma, F., Digel, S. W., Silva, E. do Couto e, Drell, P. S., Drlica-Wagner, A., Dubois, R., Dumora, D., Farnier, C., Favuzzi, C., Fegan, S. J., Focke, W. B., Fortin, P., Frailis, M., Fukazawa, Y., Fusco, P., Gargano, F., Gehrels, N., Germani, S., Giebels, B., Giglietto, N., Giordano, F., Glanzman, T., Godfrey, G., Grenier, I. A., Grove, J. E., Guillemot, L., Guiriec, S., Gustafsson, M., Harding, A. K., Hays, E., Horan, D., Hughes, R. E., Jackson, M. S., Jeltema, T. E., Johannesson, G., Johnson, A. S., Johnson, R. P., Johnson, W. N., Kamae, T., Katagiri, H., Kataoka, J., Kerr, M., Knodlseder, J., Kuss, M., Lande, J., Latronico, L., Lemoine-Goumard, M., Longo, F., Loparco, F., Lott, B., Lovellette, M. N., Lubrano, P., Madejski, G. M., Makeev, A., Mazziotta, M. N., McEnery, J. E., Meurer, C., Michelson, P. F., Mitthumsiri, W., Mizuno, T., Moiseev, A. A., Monte, C., Monzani, M. E., Moretti, E., Morselli, A., Moskalenko, I. V., Murgia, S., Nolan, P. L., Norris, J. P., Nuss, E., Ohsugi, T., Omodei, N., Orlando, E., Ormes, J. F., Paneque, D., Panetta, J. H., Parent, D., Pelassa, V., Pepe, M., Pesce-Rollins, M., Piron, F., Porter, T. A., Profumo, S., Raino, S., Rando, R., Razzano, M., Reimer, A., Reimer, O., Reposeur, T., Ritz, S., Rodriguez, A. Y., Roth, M., Sadrozinski, H. F. -W., Sander, A., Parkinson, P. M. Saz, Scargle, J. D., Schalk, T. L., Sellerholm, A., Sgro, C., Siskind, E. J., Smith, D. A., Smith, P. D., Spandre, G., Spinelli, P., Strickman, M. S., Suson, D. J., Takahashi, H., Takahashi, T., Tanaka, T., Thayer, J. B., Thayer, J. G., Thompson, D. J., Tibaldo, L., Torres, D. F., Tramacere, A., Uchiyama, Y., Usher, T. L., Vasileiou, V., Vilchez, N., Vitale, V., Waite, A. P., Wang, P., Winer, B. L., Wood, K. S., Ylinen, T., Ziegler, M., Bullock, James S., Kaplinghat, Manoj, and Martinez, Gregory D.

Subjects
Astrophysics - Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics, Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Abstract

We report on the observations of 14 dwarf spheroidal galaxies with the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope taken during the first 11 months of survey mode operations. The Fermi telescope provides a new opportunity to test particle dark matter models through the expected gamma-ray emission produced by pair annihilation of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs). Local Group dwarf spheroidal galaxies, the largest galactic substructures predicted by the cold dark matter scenario, are attractive targets for such indirect searches for dark matter because they are nearby and among the most extreme dark matter dominated environments. No significant gamma-ray emission was detected above 100 MeV from the candidate dwarf galaxies. We determine upper limits to the gamma-ray flux assuming both power-law spectra and representative spectra from WIMP annihilation. The resulting integral flux above 100 MeV is constrained to be at a level below around 10^-9 photons cm^-2 s^-1. Using recent stellar kinematic data, the gamma-ray flux limits are combined with improved determinations of the dark matter density profile in 8 of the 14 candidate dwarfs to place limits on the pair annihilation cross-section of WIMPs in several widely studied extensions of the standard model. With the present data, we are able to rule out large parts of the parameter space where the thermal relic density is below the observed cosmological dark matter density and WIMPs (neutralinos here) are dominantly produced non-thermally, e.g. in models where supersymmetry breaking occurs via anomaly mediation. The gamma-ray limits presented here also constrain some WIMP models proposed to explain the Fermi and PAMELA e^+e^- data, including low-mass wino-like neutralinos and models with TeV masses pair-annihilating into muon-antimuon pairs. (Abridged), Comment: 25 pages, 4 figures, accepted to ApJ, Corresponding authors: J. Cohen-Tanugi, C. Farnier, T.E. Jeltema, E. Nuss, and S. Profumo

Published
2010
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